men&#039;s magazineshttp://www.adweek.com/taxonomy/term/7221/all
enTime Inc.'s Matt Bean Returns to Rodale as Editor in Chief of Men's Healthhttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/time-incs-matt-bean-returns-rodale-editor-chief-mens-health-173554
Emma Bazilian<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/matt-bean-mens-health-hed-2016.png"> <p>
Four years after leaving Rodale for Time Inc., Matt Bean is set to return to the Emmaus, Pa.-based magazine publisher with a shiny new title: editor in chief of Men&#39;s Health.</p>
<p>
&quot;Matt is truly a modern day editor, savvy across print, digital and social platforms, with a clear vision for the Men&#39;s Health brand and a solid understanding of the business,&quot; Rodale chairman and CEO Maria Rodale said in a statement. &quot;Matt is the Men&#39;s Health reader; his passion for and understanding of what men want and have come to expect from this brand is unparalleled. We are thrilled to have him back at Rodale.&quot;</p>
<p>
Bean first joined Men&#39;s Health back in 2004 as an associate editor, and by 2012, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/rodale-ups-digital-exec-138775" target="_blank">had been upped</a> to vp, digital product development at Rodale. He was soon poached by Time Inc., becoming managing editor of SportsIllustrated.com, where he helped launch the brand&#39;s first daily live video series and a longform sportswriting platform.</p>
<p>
In 2014, Bean was <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/sis-matt-bean-named-editor-entertainment-weekly-155624" target="_blank">named editor</a> of Entertainment Weekly, but the gig lasted barely a year. (According to reports, Bean <a href="http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/matt-bean-out-as-editor-of-ew/330800" target="_blank">was ousted</a> over disagreements with his predecessor, Jess Cagle, who had been named editorial director of EW and People. Cagle <a href="http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/jess-cagle-rich-battista-matt-bean-people-ew-thewrap/335867" target="_blank">later denied</a> those rumors, telling The Wrap that he had &quot;never clashed&quot; with Bean.) Bean stayed on at Time Inc., becoming svp of digital innovation and <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/time-incs-digital-innovation-group-launching-its-next-big-vertical-drive-165764" target="_blank">overseeing</a> the creation of new verticals like The Drive and Extra Crispy.</p>
<p>
At Men&#39;s Health, Bean will oversee all of the brand&#39;s editorial platforms, including print, digital, TV and books. The magazine has been without an editor since June, when former EIC Bill Phillips <a href="http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/mens-health-editor-bill-phillips-departs-magazine/377992" target="_blank">was let go.</a> (Executive editor Bill Stump filled the position in the interim.) The magazine has seen a string of departures over the past year following the appointment of Michael Lafavore as Rodale&#39;s editorial director.</p>
The PressMatt BeanMen's Healthmen's magazinesRodaleTime Inc.Fri, 16 Sep 2016 17:40:29 +0000173554 at http://www.adweek.comWill Playboy’s Brand Survive Without Nudity?http://www.adweek.com/news/press/will-playboy-s-brand-survive-without-nudity-167636
Emma Bazilian<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/2015_Oct/playboy-vintage-hed-2015.jpg"> <p>
What&#39;s a brand without its core proposition? That&#39;s the question facing Playboy Enterprises, which <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/playboys-no-nudity-revamp-could-mean-more-ad-dollars-and-higher-end-brands-167550" target="_blank">made headlines</a> last week when it announced that, beginning in March 2016, its 62-year-old flagship magazine will no longer publish nude photographs.</p>
<p>
The decision, according to the brand&#39;s executives, was partly a reaction to the massive growth of easily accessible (and often free) online pornography&mdash;part of a cultural shift that, ironically, Playboy itself helped to bring about.</p>
<p>
Phillip Morelock, Playboy's chief digital officer and head of ad sales, told Adweek: &quot;The response we are getting from advertisers who want to be a part of the new Playboy has been phenomenal so far. This shift is clearly resonating with brands who have long wanted to use our platform to reach men, but to whom the nudity in the magazine was a barrier.&quot;</p>
<p>
In the first half of 2015, Playboy saw its circulation fall by 23 percent versus the previous year to just over 800,000, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. All told, the U.S. edition of the magazine loses around $3 million a year. But at the same time, Playboy&#39;s website, which went nudity-free last August, has been booming, especially with younger men.</p>
<p>
The revamped print edition will include a greater emphasis on upscale lifestyle content, long-form journalism, celebrity interviews and fiction. Aside from its centerfolds, Playboy has, of course, long been known for its respected storytelling and celebrity Q&amp;As, having published the likes of Vladimir Nabokov, Haruki Murakami and Margaret Atwood and interviews with Jimmy Carter and Martin Luther King Jr. The sex appeal won&#39;t be gone altogether. Readers will still find &quot;sexy, seductive pictorials of the world&#39;s most beautiful women&quot; in the magazine&#39;s pages, it says, but the content will be more PG-13 than R-rated.</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: right;margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 0;">
<br />
<p class="caption">
&nbsp;</p>
</div>
<p>
<img alt="" src="http://www.adweek.com/files/2015_Oct/playboy-timeline copy_0.png" style="width: 300px; height: 654px; float: right;" />Advertising insiders are applauding the change. &quot;I think it&#39;s genius,&quot; said Petur Workman, vp of business development at Phoenix Media Group. &quot;This is going to allow them to attract a much more upscale group of brands.&quot;</p>
<p>
&quot;The upside of having nude photography in the magazine is negligible and the downside is that it brings a kind of stigma to the brand that they don&#39;t need,&quot; added Landor chief strategy officer Thomas Ordahl. &quot;Playboy&#39;s decision is a no-brainer from that standpoint.&quot;</p>
<p>
At the same time, selling the new, safe-for-work Playboy could be tricky. &quot;Once you have successfully created a lifestyle brand, it&#39;s really hard to become something different,&quot; cautioned <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/cds-mp3s-little-machine-made-music-portable-163469" target="_blank">Americus Reed</a>, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania&#39;s Wharton School. &quot;It&#39;s probably going to take quite a bit of time to transform the brand into something new and relevant while also trying to retain some of the original cachet and relevance that makes it unique.&quot;</p>
<p>
Ordahl believes Playboy should return to its roots. &quot;There are a lot of things playing culturally in their favor right now, from the renaissance of the cocktail culture to the popularity of the Mad Men era,&quot; he said. &quot;I think there&#39;s definitely something in the &#39;swinger&#39; idea that they could play up.&quot;</p>
<p>
Reed suggests targeting the startup guy. &quot;These young entrepreneur types are hard-working but also want to have fun,&quot; he said. &quot;Playboy could insert itself into that cultural narrative as a brand that represents the play-hard side of things.&quot;</p>
<p>
However the brand recasts itself, there&#39;s one thing everybody agrees on: Playboy&#39;s brand equity is built on a lot more than just naked women.</p>
<p>
<em>This story first appeared in the Oct. 19 issue of Adweek magazine. <a href="https://subscribe.adweek.com/sub/?p=ADW&amp;f=sale&amp;s=IA1501PA06" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe.</a></em></p>
Advertising & BrandingThe PressHaruki MurakamiMagazine ContentMargaret AtwoodMartin Luther King Jr.men's magazinesPlayboyMon, 19 Oct 2015 00:47:20 +0000167636 at http://www.adweek.comPlayboy's No-Nudity Revamp Could Mean More Ad Dollars and Higher-End Brandshttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/playboys-no-nudity-revamp-could-mean-more-ad-dollars-and-higher-end-brands-167550
Emma Bazilian<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/playboy-hed-2015.jpg"> <p>
That old line about &quot;reading Playboy for the articles&quot; is about to become a lot more legitimate. This morning, Playboy announced that beginning in March 2016, it will no longer run nude pictures in the magazine. While the move has been attributed to the rise of Internet pornography&mdash;after all, who really needs to buy magazines to see naked women in this day and age?&mdash;there&#39;s another important factor at play: Fewer nudes may mean more advertiser dollars.</p>
<p>
The safe-for-work approach has certainly benefited Playboy.com, which underwent its own <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/playboycom-has-grown-258-year-thanks-its-safe-work-strategy-163637" target="_blank">nudity-free revamp</a> in August 2014, shifting focus to more Facebook-friendly lifestyle and entertainment content. Since then, the site&#39;s average monthly unique visitors have increased by 400 percent, and median reader age has dropped from 47 to 30, according to the company. The site has also managed to attract advertisers like Stoli Vodka, Hornitos Tequila and The Weinstein Company.</p>
<p>
By instituting similar changes in the magazine&mdash;among them, higher-quality paper stock, more coverage of visual artists and liquor content, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/business/media/nudes-are-old-news-at-playboy.html?_r=0" target="_blank">per the New York Times</a>&mdash;Playboy might hope to compete with men&#39;s magazines like GQ and Esquire for high-end fashion, automotive and spirits advertisers.</p>
<p>
The no-nudity move could also help broaden Playboy&#39;s appeal among mass brands that tend to be more conservative. &quot;This opens up the conversation to marketers hesitant to go into what was a highly provocative environment,&quot; said Robin Steinberg, evp, publishing and digital director, investment activation at MediaVest.</p>
<p>
Whether advertisers really will embrace the &quot;new&quot; Playboy remains to be seen. But even if brands bite, the magazine will still need to win over its target millennial audience. &quot;Readers and revenue are the two most crucial factors for success,&quot; Steinberg said.</p>
<p>
Take, for example, former laddie magazine Maxim, which relaunched in an attempt to reposition itself as a destination for stylish urban males. Since then, the magazine&#39;s fashion advertising has grown, but newsstand numbers are still struggling: According to the Alliance for Audited Media, single-copy sales dropped 36 percent in the first half of 2015.</p>
The Pressmen's magazinesOnlinePlayboyPlayboy.comMagazineTue, 13 Oct 2015 23:37:04 +0000167550 at http://www.adweek.comMaxim Finally Grows Up With New Redesignhttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/maxim-finally-grows-new-redesign-163002
Emma Bazilian<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/maxim-come-closer-cover-01-2015.png"> <p>
Once-hot laddie mag Maxim is trying to shed its frat-boy image with a head-to-toe makeover that makes its official debut today.</p>
<p>
The redesigned magazine&mdash;editor in chief Kate Lanphear&#39;s first full issue&mdash;targets an older, more affluent audience to match the magazine&#39;s core readership, which has seen its average age increase by 10 years over the past decade. &quot;Our guy has grown up,&quot; said publisher Kevin Martinez. &quot;He&#39;s 33, starting to make money and looking at his life differently.&quot;</p>
<p>
Founded in 1995, the 2 million-circulation title was an early hit but has struggled to maintain relevance as young men turn to the Internet, not the newsstand (where Maxim&#39;s circulation fell 33 percent in the first half of last year), to fill their appetite for salacious pics and lifestyle content.</p>
<p>
Last year, investor Sardar Biglari bought the title and, in an effort to revitalize the brand, hired Martinez away from his job as publisher of Details to run the magazine&#39;s advertising side. Several months later, Bilgari made the surprising announcement that Kate Lanphear, the well-respected style director at T: The New York Times Style Magazine, would become Maxim&#39;s new editor in chief.</p>
<p>
Both Martinez and Lanphear&#39;s high-fashion backgrounds&mdash;they worked together at Elle&mdash;are apparent in the redesign, which boasts a more refined look and runway-inspired style coverage. &quot;Men are increasingly open to wanting to look really good, to fashion, to grooming, to luxury, so I wanted to bring that to the pages of the magazine with full-page fashion spreads, which we hadn&#39;t really done before,&quot; said Lanphear.</p>
<p>
Lanphear&#39;s other major focus was bringing more quality storytelling to Maxim. As a result, readers will see bylines from the likes of Pulitzer-winning journalist Rick Bragg, novelist Andre Dubus III and Rolling Stone writer Jenny Eliscu. Even content that might seem juvenile actually has a grown-up twist: An article by professional pick-up artist Neil Strauss focuses not on how to attract women, but on going to rehab for sex addition after falling in love with his now-wife.</p>
<p>
Speaking of sex, perhaps the most noticeable difference in the new Maxim is its (relatively) more tasteful treatment of female subjects. On the cover, newsstand browsers will see only a close-up of model Candice Swanepoel&#39;s face&mdash;no hint of cleavage to be found. Inside the magazine, there&#39;s still plenty of eye candy, but it&#39;s less &quot;dorm-room poster&quot; than before.</p>
<p>
&quot;I want to challenge the idea of what is sexy, and show that there are so many different ways to celebrate women,&quot; said Lanphear. &quot;I don&#39;t want to shy away from &#39;sexy&#39;&mdash;that&#39;s an essential part of the Maxim brand&mdash;but I think we&#39;ve evolved since the magazine was first started, and our ideas about sexiness are not so simple or clich&eacute;.&quot;</p>
<p>
The changes have had a positive effect on the magazine&#39;s advertising, which now includes high-end brands like Prada, Armani, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein and Bloomingdale&#39;s. The March issue is up 30 pages&mdash;a 289 percent increase&mdash;from a year ago.</p>
<p>
&quot;We&#39;re reaching a whole new audience that these [advertisers] knew was out there, but because the brand that was speaking to them wasn&#39;t up to snuff, they kind of shied away from it,&quot; said Martinez. &quot;Now, we&#39;re bringing it up to their expectations.&quot;<br />
&nbsp;</p>
The PressKate LanphearKevin MartinezMaximmen's magazinesMagazineWed, 18 Feb 2015 22:53:03 +0000163002 at http://www.adweek.comAMI Promotes Men's Fitness Publisherhttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/ami-promotes-mens-fitness-publisher-159109
Emma Bazilian<p>
It&rsquo;s been just over a year since AMI&rsquo;s Men&rsquo;s Fitness, formerly a collection of bodybuilding tips and ads for &ldquo;health&rdquo; supplements of questionable efficacy, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/mens-fitness-magazine-remade-lifestyle-brand-148947" target="_blank">was reborn</a> as an upscale men&rsquo;s lifestyle brand under the leadership of former Men&rsquo;s Health editor Dave Zinczenko and vp, publisher Patrick Connors, a Cond&eacute; Nast alum who was hired away from Glamour in late 2012. Now, with solid growth in both ad revenue and circulation, AMI is elevating Connors to brand svp.&nbsp;</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: right;margin: 15px 0px 15px 15px;">
<img class="fancyzoom" data-fancybox-src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/mensfitness-cover-01-2014.jpg" src="/files/imagecache/test-width/mensfitness-cover-01-2014.jpg" /></div>
<p>
Repositioning Men&rsquo;s Fitness as a worthy competitor to the well-respected (and larger by more than a million copies per month) Men&rsquo;s Health wasn&rsquo;t an easy task, but so far, the magazine has remained on an upward trajectory, increasing its circulation by 4 percent and newsstand sales by 20 percent in the second half of 2013, per the Alliance for Audited Media. On the advertising side, ad pages were down 15 percent for the first half of the year, mostly because January and February were combined into a single issue, Conners said, and the magazine purged the supplement business, now considered off-brand, that it previously relied upon. But print revenue increased 22 percent year over year.</p>
<p>
Advertisers have taken note of the editorial shift toward more fashion, grooming and other lifestyle content. &ldquo;When I first arrived here, I asked what fashion business do we get, and the answer was Dr. Scholls,&rdquo; recalled Connors. Now, he counts brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Movado and Chanel fragrance as advertisers. (Other new non-fashion additions include Mercedes Benz, Grey Goose and Microsoft.) &ldquo;Men&rsquo;s is a <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/derek-lam-believes-fashion-masses-157455" target="_blank">growth category</a> for most advertisers, especially grooming and fashion,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;They understand that the male consumer today is very much interested in how he looks, and he&rsquo;s willing to spend more on that.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Men&rsquo;s Fitness is also finally getting into live events, an increasingly important revenue stream for many media brands, for the first time. This fall, the magazine will expand its Game Changers franchise, launched last year, into a bicoastal affair with a red-carpet event in Los Angeles and dinner in New York. Sponsors include Stoli vodka, Tommy Hilfiger and Invictus fragrance&mdash;three brands that, it&rsquo;s safe to say, one wouldn&rsquo;t have associated with the magazine a few years back.</p>
<p>
Connors admitted that even a year after the relaunch, it can still be difficult to get advertisers onboard with the &ldquo;new&rdquo; Men&rsquo;s Fitness. &ldquo;In some meetings, &lsquo;Why are we meeting with you?&rsquo; is the first question that comes out of their mouth,&rdquo; sad Connors. &ldquo;For 25 years, we were a certain kind of brand, so people have that in their minds, and rightfully so. But I think that as they continue to see the editorial environment, the advertising environment, the cover design, that makes them feel a lot more confident.&rdquo;</p>
The PressAmerican Media Inc.AmiMen's Fitnessmen's magazinesMagazineFri, 25 Jul 2014 21:45:08 +0000159109 at http://www.adweek.comWho Is the 21st Century Man of the World? [Video]http://www.adweek.com/news/press/who-21st-century-man-world-video-152963
<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/screen_shot_2013-10-07_at_10.40.22_am.png"> <p>
Who is is the Man of the World? He&#39;s not a boy, not a senior citizen&mdash;maybe a business traveler? He certainly likes his wristwatches.</p>
The PressAdweek OriginalMan of the Worldmen's magazinesSix QuestionsMagazineMon, 07 Oct 2013 15:14:29 +0000152963 at http://www.adweek.comRoad & Track Drives Lifestyle Into Magazinehttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/road-track-drives-lifestyle-magazine-148263
Emma Bazilian<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/road-track-mag-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
Move over, GQ? Road &amp; Track, the 66-year-old car magazine has gotten a serious tune-up. The <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/hearst-completes-lagard-re-deal-132136">Hearst Magazines title</a> is introducing a new look, content and focus with the May issue that editor in chief Larry Webster and publisher and CRO Felix DiFilippo are hoping will set the book apart from its car-obsessed competitors and give it a men&#39;s magazine feel.</p>
<p>
The overhaul began last summer when Webster joined Road &amp; Track from Popular Mechanics, moving the magazine&rsquo;s headquarters to Ann Arbor, Mich., and hiring a slew of new staffers. &ldquo;As we looked to the other car magazines, we saw that they were gelling around a center which was very focused on new car, new car, new car, and a lot of car reviews,&rdquo; said Webster. &ldquo;We think our natural niche for Road &amp; Track is more magazine-y. It&rsquo;s more longform stories, it&rsquo;s more thought pieces, it&rsquo;s all the stuff around the car as well as the car itself&hellip;We&rsquo;re trying to pull in the romance and excitement of cars.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
The new Road &amp; Track will include more lifestyle-focused content, from style coverage to restaurant recommendations for a road trip. Many of the magazine&rsquo;s new writers, like executive editor Sam Smith and senior editor Josh Condon, have written for men&rsquo;s lifestyle and fashion titles like GQ and Esquire.</p>
<p>
Design-wise, the magazine has a new logo, retro (and more upscale) cover look and an emphasis on photography, plus a larger trim size and heavier paper stock. The look was overseen by new design director Dave Speranza and takes many of its cues from the early issues of Road &amp; Track.</p>
<p>
The changes have been attracting more high-end advertisers, both in the auto world as well as luxury goods manufacturers. Thirty-five percent of advertising revenue in the May issue came from new or newly reintroduced brands, like Jaguar, Cadillac and Indian motorcycle.</p>
<p>
A new website is also being rolled out, and a redesigned tablet edition will make its debut with the magazine&rsquo;s June issue.</p>
The PressCarsHearst Magazinesluxurymen's magazinesOnlineRoad & TrackMagazineMon, 01 Apr 2013 04:01:01 +0000148263 at http://www.adweek.comNow Quarterly, Bloomberg Pursuits Adds to Masthead, Launches iPad Apphttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/now-quarterly-bloomberg-pursuits-adds-masthead-launches-ipad-app-146463
Emma Bazilian<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/bloomberg-pursuits-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/bloomberg-bows-luxe-mag-135656"><em>Bloomberg Pursuits</em></a>, the luxury lifestyle spinoff of <em>Bloomberg Markets</em>, is trying to make more inroads into fashion as it steps up its frequency to four times a year. In addition to launching an iPad app, which will automatically download to subscribers of the <em>Markets</em> app starting with the spring issue, new editor in chief Ted Moncreiff&#39;s first, the magazine has added an art director and luxury marketing consultant.</p>
<p>
Art director Anton Ioukhnovets comes with substantial fashion bona fides, having been design director and art director at Cond&eacute; Nast&rsquo;s <em>W</em>&nbsp;and <em>GQ</em>, respectively. In 2012, he became creative director of <em>Lotus</em>, a men&rsquo;s magazine launched by the British luxury car company of the same name.</p>
<p>
Stephen Jacoby, <em>Pursuits</em>&rsquo; new luxury marketing consultant, joins the Bloomberg LP magazine after a decade as <em>Esquire</em>&rsquo;s associate publisher for marketing and 16 years at Cond&eacute; Nast. (While at the Hearst men&rsquo;s book, he launched the <em>Esquire</em> Signature Spaces franchise, also known as the Esquire Apartment.)&nbsp;</p>
<p>
New advertisers in the spring issue include Lamborghini, Lufthansa and Faberge, while Ralph Lauren will be running spreads in all four issues this year.</p>
<p>
<em>Pursuits</em> launched as a twice-yearly publication in January 2012. Ad sales were strong enough that <em>Markets</em> publisher Michael Dukmejian announced a frequency increase to four issues in 2013.</p>
The PressBloombergBloomberg MarketsBloomberg PursuitsEsquireGQmen's fashionmen's magazinesWThu, 17 Jan 2013 22:09:51 +0000146463 at http://www.adweek.com'Maxim' Reduces Rate Base, Frequency for 2013http://www.adweek.com/news/press/maxim-reduces-rate-base-frequency-2013-143873
Emma Bazilian<p>
<em>Maxim</em> magazine, the lone survivor of Alpha Media&rsquo;s laddie mag boom-and-bust (<em>Stuff</em> and <em>Blender</em> folded in 2007 and 2009, respectively), is shrinking its rate base, continuing&nbsp;a trend among big-circulation magazines like <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/playboy-cuts-rate-base-38-100676"><em>Playboy</em></a>, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/reader-s-digest-association-trims-flagship-eyes-niches-112664"><em>Reader&#39;s Digest</em></a> and <em>Newsweek</em>.</p>
<p>
The <a href="http://www.maximmediakit.com/print/specs/productionschedule2013.php" target="_blank">magazine&rsquo;s media kit</a>&nbsp;lists&nbsp;the 2013 rate base at 2 million&mdash;a 20 percent decrease from its current rate base of 2.5 million.&nbsp;<em>Maxim</em>&nbsp;also is combining its December and January magazines for a total of 10 issues, down from 11 this year.</p>
<p>
Although <em>Maxim</em> managed to maintain its overall circulation over the past year, a close look at the numbers shows some weak spots. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations&#39; Fas-Fax, first-half newsstand sales plunged 20 percent versus the year-ago period and 50 percent over the past five years. Paid subscriptions also slipped, 1.6 percent.</p>
<p>
Meanwhile, there was a 57 percent increase in verified subscriptions&mdash;those free-distribution copies often found in places like barber shops&mdash;adding up to nearly 8 percent of <em>Maxim</em>&rsquo;s total circ for the first half of the year. While the bump in verified circ managed to balance newsstand and paid subscription losses, it didn&rsquo;t contribute to <em>Maxim</em>&rsquo;s bottom line.</p>
<p>
<em>Maxim</em>&rsquo;s advertising was similarly weak in the first half of 2012. Ad pages dropped 20 percent from 239 between January and June 2011 to 191 in the same period of 2012.</p>
<p>
This isn&rsquo;t the first sign of trouble <em>Maxim</em> has faced in the past year. Last March, just two months after Alpha Media brought in Jack Kliger as executive chairman, <em>Maxim</em> <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/maxim-downsizes-139294">laid off six staffers</a>, mostly from the editorial side.</p>
The PressAlpha MediaMaximmen's magazinesMagazineThu, 20 Sep 2012 20:48:41 +0000143873 at http://www.adweek.com'Men's Journal' Rolls Out Updated Websitehttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/mens-journal-rolls-out-updated-website-140564
Emma Bazilian<p>
Wenner Media is preparing to launch a <a href="www.adweek.com/news/press/mens-journal-relaunch-site-product-focus-137930">new gear- and review-centric site</a> for <em>Men&#39;s Journal</em> on May 21, a big step forward for the historically digital-adverse publisher.</p>
<p>
While the old MensJournal.com had largely replicated the magazine in tone and content, Wenner chief digital officer David Kang said that the new one would have a distinct editorial voice and content. &ldquo;Within the men&rsquo;s space, a lot of the sites are just okay, and the publishing model is still wedded to the magazine,&rdquo; said Kang. &ldquo;I think that by thinking about the site from an editorial perspective, it will help us find a new audience and deepen our relationship with the existing audience.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
MensJournal.com will also be the first Wenner site to be tablet- and smartphone-optimized. Jann Wenner has been a vocal skeptic about dumping money into developing apps for the iPad, so rather than build an Apple app, the company decided to put its efforts into an HTML5 site that offers an app-like experience available on any platform, while avoiding the cut Apple takes from app developers.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;All devices have one thing in common: they all have browsers,&rdquo; said Kang. &ldquo;As wonderful as Apple devices are, we want to be forward-looking, and we think that as the tablet marketplace matures, there are going to be a lot of really cool tablets that are powered by Android and other manufacturers.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
The site will review and explore areas like gear, travel, health and fitness as well as niche interests not typically covered by the magazine. A search feature will help readers parse through gear reviews, while a new &ldquo;badging&rdquo; concept will let&nbsp;<em>Men&rsquo;s Journal </em>editors select specific items as best in class. Kang believed that the reviews could also lead to e-commerce, in which the site would partner with &ldquo;<em>MJ-</em>approved&rdquo; manufacturers to offer deals on their products.</p>
The PressMen's Journalmen's magazinesWenner MediaTue, 15 May 2012 21:42:22 +0000140564 at http://www.adweek.com'Men's Journal' to Relaunch Site with Product Focushttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/mens-journal-relaunch-site-product-focus-137930
Emma Bazilian<p>
After <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/wenner-put-web-play-rolling-stone-site-relaunch-113328">overhauling RollingStone.com in 2010</a>, Wenner Media is turning its attention to another publication with a less-than-impressive Web presence: <em>Men&rsquo;s Journal</em>, whose <a href="http://www.mensjournal.com" target="_blank">current site</a> is more of an afterthought to the magazine than a standalone digital destination.</p>
<p>
<em>Men&#39;s Journal</em> is planning to unveil a new site this spring that, in a departure from many magazine websites that still tend to mirror their print counterparts, will revolve around product reviews and advice.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to do is extend what the magazine does so well, and that is expertise in men&rsquo;s lifestyle and adventure,&rdquo; said Bill Crandall, head of digital content at Wenner. &ldquo;The core of the website is going to be recommending the best things to do, the best things to see, and the best things to experience for men.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Many magazines have been jumping on e-commerce partnerships to offset soft ad revenue lately. Whether <em>Men&rsquo;s Journal</em> will sell merchandise through the site is still being discussed, but Crandall called it a &ldquo;logical extension.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
He did say, however, that the site would only feature products or destinations that have been tested by editorial. &ldquo;The stuff that we are recommending will be the stuff that we&rsquo;ve experienced, so we&rsquo;re thinking that our recommendations will go a long way and provide a nice layer on top of commerce,&rdquo; Crandall said.</p>
<p>
Rather than siphoning Web posts directly from the magazine, the new <em>Men&rsquo;s Journal</em> site will feature original content, said Crandall. (That will likely include a good deal of video, to take advantage of <em>Rolling Stone</em>&rsquo;s new studios at the Wenner offices.)</p>
<p>
<em>Men&rsquo;s Journal</em> is also planning to bring in a new team of Web-specific producers and editors who will work closely with the magazine&rsquo;s existing staff.</p>
<p>
Meanwhile, the title still hasn&#39;t named a new publisher to replace Michael Wolfe, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/week-snags-mens-journal-publisher-137590">who defected for <em>The Week</em> last month</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
The PressMen's Journalmen's magazinesWenner MediaThu, 02 Feb 2012 01:13:32 +0000137930 at http://www.adweek.com'Maxim' Replaces Editor-in-Chief Joe Levyhttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/maxim-replaces-editor-chief-joe-levy-136224
Emma Bazilian<p>
<em>Maxim</em> magazine is <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/bova_on_top_at_maxim_EjbNtbFV4a8gx55d8gffzH?CMP=OTC-rss&amp;FEEDNAME=" target="_blank">getting a new editor-in-chief</a>. After two-and-a-half years on the job, Joe Levy is stepping down from the top editorial spot and will be replaced by his second in command, executive editor Dan Bova.</p>
<p>
Before heading to <em>Maxim</em>, Levy edited its sister title, the now-defunct men&rsquo;s magazine <em>Blender</em>. According to the <em>New York Post</em>, his exit from <em>Maxim</em> is being called a &ldquo;mutual decision,&rdquo; but he&rsquo;s only staying through the end of the week to help with the &ldquo;transition.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
As for <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2011/10/31/maxim-replaces-its-editor-in-chief/" target="_blank">what he&rsquo;ll do next</a>, Levy told <em>Forbes</em>, &ldquo;The truth is I&rsquo;ve done TV for years, but I had a chance to do a prime-time series with ABC this summer,&quot; referring to his stint on ABC&#39;s <em>Karaoke Battle USA</em>. &quot;It was a small show, but it opened up some other doors, and I&rsquo;m interested to see what&rsquo;s on the other side of them. It&rsquo;s a good time to take a look around and see what else is out there.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
<em>Maxim</em>, which was acquired by Cerberus Capital in 2009, has had a rough few years, with ad pages dropping 8.6 percent in the first nine months of 2011, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. The magazine that once pulled in more than $50 million a year in profit is now said to be &ldquo;marginally profitable at best,&rdquo; according to the <em>Post</em>.</p>
The PressMagazinesMaximmen's magazinesTue, 01 Nov 2011 14:37:10 +0000136224 at http://www.adweek.com